Around a quarter of employees in Greece are union members, but the position is very different in the public and state-owned sector, where unions have relatively high levels of membership, and the private sector, where unions are weak. There are only two major confederations, ADEDY covering the central, local and regional government, and GSEE covering the rest. Below this level there is a hierarchy of union structures, but they are fragmented.note1

Collective bargaining takes place at national, industry and company level, and in the past the national agreement, normally negotiated every two years, provided a basis from which improvements could be negotiated. However, changes introduced following the 2010 crisis and the provision of IMF and EU financial support, have fundamentally altered the bargaining structure.

The local ‘primary level’ unions are the most important form of employee representation in Greece. They have clear legal rights covering information, consultation and negotiation, although as a result of the crisis no-union bodies have been given negotiating powers. The law also provides for a works council structure. But in reality, works councils are only found in a few companies, and where they exist, they work closely with the local union.

Health and safety representation in Greece is provided through separately elected health and safety representatives or a health and safety committee in larger companies. The committees are employee bodies but they or the health and safety representative should meet the employer on a regular basis.

Financial participation is still not very widespread in Greece. In the public debate there is no distinctive general attitude towards financial participation. Neither the employees, the employers nor the government side have taken specific initiatives to change this situation.